Wheelchair rugby a viable outlet for disabled athletes

Eric Ingram, left, and Mason Symons get in some wheelchair rugby practice time at the University of Houston, which this weekend is hosting a tournament.

Photo: Courtesy of University of Housto, Staff Photographer

Seven months ago, Michael Cottingham was sitting in his office when a student walked in, wanting to discuss new sports ideas for the University of Houston's Adaptive Athletics.

After discussing the possibilities, Cottingham, the program director, and the student decided on wheelchair rugby - or Murderball, a popular name for a sport that permits full contact in wheelchairs by athletes with disabilities.

From Friday through Sunday, the UH Campus Recreation and Wellness Center will host the Cougar Coup Wheelchair Rugby Tournament.

"Rugby was a great sport to start with because it juxtaposes the disability," Cottingham said. "When we start to think about disability, you start thinking of dependents. But with rugby and its aggressive nature, it juxtaposes and breaks down a lot of barriers and stereotypes.

"We're hosting this event because we want to recruit athletes with disabilities to the university. We want some of the players (from) all over the world to come out and say, 'Hey, this is where I want to go to school and play rugby.' "

A full-contact sport

In 1976, five Canadians who were quadriplegic (having partial or total loss of use to all four limbs) created their own sport after experiencing a lack of playing time in wheelchair basketball and not being able to perform as well as paraplegics, who have lower-extremity disabilities.

A basketball is heavy for a quadriplegic to shoot. Cottingham said it would be better to score after crossing a goal line.

Cottingham, who is quadriplegic, coached wheelchair rugby at the University of Arizona, the only other collegiate program in the country. UH partnered last spring with TIRR Memorial Hermann to start its program.

Murderball gets its name from the aggressive, full-contact bashing of players in wheelchairs.

Eric Ingram, who plays for the TIRR Texans, said his goal is to increase the sport's visibility.

"We want to make it mainstream," Ingram said. "Some people have no clue what it is, and we want to get more people to know about it and create excitement. It's a great outlet because it's full contact and lets us be aggressive."

The four players per team on the court during the four eight-minute quarters cannot exceed an eight-point classification total based on their level of disability. Players range from 0.5 (lowest functional level) to 3.5 (highest).

An athlete's classification determines his wheelchair. A lower-point player will have a longer chair designed to set picks, while a higher-point player primarily controls the ball.

Student coordinator James Megna says the tournament is "a good event to have because it raises awareness and increases interest for a lot of people who don't even know what the sport is."

'A lot of crashing'

Cottingham said the tournament favorite will either be the Calgary Inferno or the hometown Texans, as both teams have players on the national team. The United States is ranked first and Canada third, according to iwrf.com.

"If you're there, it's great because you hear a lot of crashing," Cottingham said. "Everybody has had a disability out there and has had an interesting story. We don't want to minimize that, but our focus is on them and not as human-interest stories. People are missing out on a big pass or a great hit.

"If you're a kid, you want to do something that makes you feel independent and competitive."

Cottingham can relate.

"I got into sports at a young age because I needed something that I wanted to compete with other people. All of my friends were playing Little League, so I wanted something of my own. This was my outlet."

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